Ireland Graveyards, 2010

Sherwood Harrington

Portumna Castle

This set of images of cemeteries concludes with
two that are not from a cemetery at all, but rather from the shell
of the
Portumna Castle.

Portumna Castle on the northeastern shore of Lough Derg is actually
the ruin of an Elizabethan mansion that was gutted by fire in 1826,
leaving only the outer walls intact. Ireland's Office of
Public Works (OPW) is in a decades-long, painstaking process of
restoring the mansion, but budgetary issues will probably extend the
effort for decades before completion.

Found early in the effort, though, was the grave of a treasured pet,
the dog "Fury," and Fury's remains constitute the most touching part
of the mansion's current displays.